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<title>Multiverse Desperado 2: Pokemon Roadtrip by CosmicDesperado30</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24042454">Multiverse Desperado 2: Pokemon Roadtrip</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicDesperado30/pseuds/CosmicDesperado30'>CosmicDesperado30</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mass Effect - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crossover, Fish out of Water, Gen, Self-Insert</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:15:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,723</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24042454</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicDesperado30/pseuds/CosmicDesperado30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After surviving the Reaper War within the world of Mass Effect, the mysterious Jumper takes Jack The Psychotic Biotic with him on his journey throughout the multiverse. After spending a week in his interdimensional Warehouse, the enigmatic entity known as Jump brings the duo to their new ten-year long life, as teenage Pokemon trainers. But rather than endure another ten years of hardship after already surviving galactic massacre, Jumper decides to stay out of things and just enjoy a long vacation. A vacation that might not last very long.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jack | Subject Zero/Original Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Stepping Out Into A Whole New World</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I kept looking in the mirror, imagining my ideal look. Jump was in the background, wearing a playful smile and an opulent black dress, the kind you wouldn't be surprised seeing in a 1920s jazz club. I saw my body flicker through the various ideas and outfits, until I finally decided on something...a bit cliched but spoke to me nonetheless. A simple cyan t-shirt, a pair of action jeans (those special kinds you can actually kick worth a damn in) held together with snake leather belt, and a long-flowing black coat tying it all together. Not a heavy duster, but the kind you comfortably wear during cold weather.</p><p>“You gonna throw some sunglasses on top of that get-up, Neo?” Jump ribbed playfully. I turned around with a flourish and gave her a bright smile.</p><p>“Say what you want, long coats and black was considered cool when I was a teen, and I still think they are. Besides, I'm in an elite few now. I think I'm allowed a little personal creative flourish after all I've been through.”</p><p>She cocked an eyebrow. I then stroked my chin and returned to the mirror. Maybe a more distinct bit of personal flourish is needed. And so, I concentrated on my reflection and added some details. A distinct multicolored fractal pattern was added to my shirt, making the whole thing like like a cracked stained glass window with little details and changes peppered throughout the cracked pieces. And some simple cyan straight lines were added to the coat. Simple, stretched lines reaching from the sleeves to the back, meeting in the middle in a circle, then branching out to the collar and bottom ending in a trim.</p><p>“There we go, I think that says me a bit more.” I twirled on the spot, enjoying the extra design.</p><p>“Or that you're getting ready to enter the game grid.” Jump laughed. I blew out a raspberry.</p><p>“Besides, I think you deserve a bit more of a personal badge of honor.” she added with a flick of her hand.</p><p>I quickly patted myself down in concern. Half expecting her to change my body again, but then I felt some different fabric around my breast pocket. I looked down and saw...a perfectly integrated N7 patch. I felt my heart twinge slightly.</p><p>“I think you deserve it. All the training you did with him, everything you pulled off. I think he'd approve of this promotion.”</p><p>“Yeah...it'll also be a good reminder of what I still need to do.” the images of Shepard and his crew in the hospital wing flashed through my mind, put there by my doing.</p><p>There was a moment of silence, then I felt Jump clap her hand on my shoulder. Her grip was strangely comforting. With a gesture, we exited together out of the rooms of the house and back into the Warehouse proper. A large collection of humanoid robots were scattered about moving crate after crate of product to a singular area. We followed.</p><p>“So, run by me again exactly what was added to this place?” I inquired.</p><p>“Well you got familiar with the medbay obviously, and met my Jumpbots. They're extremely basic and not meant for combat so don't even think about having them fight for you.”</p><p>“I wasn't. One universe of using robot proxies was enough,” I looked away in shame but then shook it off when I remembered they were used to crush the memetic Kai Leng and smiled.</p><p>“Hey, don't be too hard on yourself, you actually grasped you weren't unstoppable pretty quickly.” she responded, “Let's see, there's a library over here, a swimming pool over here, Jack's quarters are over there. Don't worry, she has all the trappings of home, plus some music and media from there. Even got you a copy of the same in your room.” </p><p>“Great, some decent techno music to listen to between universes, sounds relaxing.” I quipped sarcastically.</p><p>“Or you can check out the latest full sensory experience of Fornax you perv,” Jump chuckled. I flashed red and tried to look away.</p><p>“Hey, I'm only human!” I finally blurted out.</p><p>“For now,”</p><p>“Excuse me,”</p><p>“Ah! We're finally here!”</p><p>I wanted to press further, but she was right. An elaborate storage vault stood before us. Multiple locks and security measures were peppered throughout it. Number combination, letter combination, keypads, riddles, a giant post-it note on the front saying “Property of the Manager, Touch At Your Own Risk,” eye and fingerprint scanners. Name it, it was there. Though to be honest, it looked like most of it was just set dressing since there was only one lock that legitimately mattered: A simple keylock made specifically for the Warehouse Key placed under the post-it note.</p><p>The Jumpbots finally placed the last of T'Som Manufacturing's weapons inside. The assault rifles, the grenades, the last of the Cain X1 portable nuclear launchers. It was all there. Jump allowed me to do the honors with a simple wave of her hand. I closed the vault door, then locked it with my Key.</p><p>“Never again,” I spoke aloud.</p><p>“You say that, but do you really mean that?” Jump asked, “I mean, the multiverse is a big place and there's plenty out there who sees this stuff as child's play. Why limit yourself like this?”</p><p>“Because it's the right thing to do. Morality still has a place, and I'll be damned if I abandon it for personal gain.” I turned around and walked past Jump as she gave a slight shrug.</p><p>“Eh, morality, such a human construct. But hey, it's your journey. Speaking of which, it's been about a week since you two have been chilling out here soooo.” in a flash, she was right in front of me, her stance and posture turning from composed ingenue to exuberant child, “let's talk about where you're going next!”</p><p>I gave a small chuckle at her energy and nodded in agreement, doubling my pace to put as much distance between me and the vault as I could.</p><p>“What, so I actually have a proper say this time? None of this boot from the nest and see if I fly nonsense?” I asked as we made our way to Jack's quarters.</p><p>“Nah, I say you've earned at least some autonomy. Like you said, you're above most people who take this journey, credit where credit is due.”</p><p>“So...anywhere?” I couldn't help but hide my excitement.</p><p>“Well...almost anywhere.” Jump tilted her head. “It's a bit complicated but hey, we'll have plenty of time to discuss it if you get back.”</p><p>“So much for credit where credit is due,” I frowned.</p><p>As we walked out, Jack was already stepping out to meet us, dressed in her original leather jacket and pants attire, ponytail sported.</p><p>“Couldn't really think of a new look?” I asked.</p><p>“I think you're new enough for the both of us, blue.” Jack responded before jabbing me in the arm. I grinned and beared the hit.</p><p>“So before this whole thing goes down I have to ask you something, what the hell is this?” Jack then held up a...no way.</p><p>“You have got to be kidding me.” I took the pokeball from her, despite her protests and held it in my hand. Suddenly I was eight years old again, giddy with anticipation.</p><p>“Uhhh blue? Variza? Whatever you wanna be called? What is going on?”</p><p>Without thinking I pointed at Jump and yelled, “hit it!.” and without missing a beat, a certain iconic cheesy guitar rock chord exploded from the air.</p><p>“I wanna beee the very best!” I sang, pointing at Jack with theatrical flair, “Like no one ever was! To catch them is my real test! To train them is my cause!” I tossed her the ball and slid to my knees, the emotion overtaking me.</p><p>“Gotta catch 'em all!!! Pokemon!!”</p><p>Jump lightly clapped. Jack just stood there, confused.</p><p>“I...pokey what now?” she finally replied after not blinking for several seconds.</p><p>“Pokemon! Ohhh my gosh yes! It's real! It feels exactly like I thought it would!” I exclaimed, moving my hands over the smooth metallic surface of the pokeball. Then curiosity overtook me and I clicked the tiny circle in its center.</p><p>A burst of white light erupted from the ball, pooling onto the floor in front of us, rapidly dissipating to reveal an adorable brown-furred four-legged creature. An Eevee.</p><p>Jack jumped in mild surprise as it ran up her shoulder and started nuzzling her.</p><p>“I..what the hell is this thing!?”</p><p>“A Pokemon!” Jump and I said together in unison. She gave it a sharp look and flexed her fist, poised to strike.</p><p>“Wait! It's harmless! It's in a ball which means its tamed...right?” I turned to Jump on the last word. She nodded.</p><p>“Yeah, it's harmless. It's like a pet.” I took a moment to choose my next words carefully, the Eevee unrelenting in its passionate display of affection for Jack's neck, “Pokemon are...well pocket monsters. It's kind of a portmantau. Basically creatures with extraordinary abilities that you can capture and train in various activities with these.” I pointed to the ball. “There's an entire world dedicated to humans and Pokemon living together. Making life easier, co-existing with nature, participating in competitive fighting tournaments and beauty contests. It was the biggest cultural phenomenon for people of my generation in my world all over. Video games, animated shows, comic books, novels, music, it was the hottest trend. Hell, last I checked it was still going strong for almost twenty years”</p><p>Jack took a moment to lightly lift the Eevee off of her shoulder and give it a good solid look. It looked happy to be held. She looked quizzical.</p><p>“This... thing spawned twenty years of merchandise and entertainment.” She cocked an eyebrow.</p><p>“Well, there's a lot more than just Eevee there. There's like...seven-hundred different types of them now, all as diverse as there are aliens in your Milky Way galaxy, Jack.”</p><p>She took another moment to examine the Eevee, almost like she was looking for a magical angle to see the thing the way I did with childlike fervor.</p><p>“So what exactly do you do with them?”</p><p>“Well most of the games had you use them in battles against other trainers. Sometimes in competitions to prove you're the best in the world, other times to stop criminal organizations from using Pokemon for evil, and other times to shut up little kids who won't shut up about how great shorts are.”</p><p>“...battling?”</p><p>Before I could reply, Jump interrupted with, “Eevee, use Swift attack!” and in an instant, its eyes glowed a brilliant yellow and several glowing energy stars blinked into existence around it....</p><p>...and went flying straight at me. The blows hit me fast and hard like blows from a tiny hammer wielded by a madman. I was on the floor cursing under my breath within seconds. Jack's eyes lit up with surprise. Jump laughed.</p><p>“And the funny thing is Jack, that one you're holding is a common house pet. There's much bigger and worse stuff out in that world as well. And like he said,” She twirled the pokeball on her finger and with a gesture recalled the Eevee back into it in a flash of red light, “you gotta catch 'em all.”</p><p>“I think one of them hit me in the nuts. Oh god I forgot how badly that hurt.” I groaned.</p><p>“Oh suck it up, you got shot in the gut that one time” Jump remarked, completely cold to my suffering, “So, Jack, you interested?”</p><p>She tilted her head in curiosity, then something changed in her eyes.</p><p>“Well, you said the stuff in my world was around for about nine years, and even then you didn't get everything right. Which means if we go here, it'll be a lot easier... right?”</p><p>I shook my head in confirmation, trying to stand back up.</p><p>“And...when you say gotta catch 'em all?”</p><p>“It was a tagline. A catchphrase, like collecting all the dolls or action figures in a set. But in Pokemon's case, the stuff you could capture and train could be something that commands the earth and sea itself. Or life and death. Or time and space.”</p><p>Jack blinked.</p><p>“Yeah, it's really ridiculous. But if you knew what you were doing, you could tame and control basically demigods.”</p><p>“Let's do it.” She responded immediately.</p><p>“Perfect!” Jump exclaimed, holding out the elaborately ornate character sheet she showed me back in the Mass Effect universe. Then she flicked the page with the deft showmanship of a magician to reveal a second sheet; Jack's.</p><p>“Alright, first thing's first. You know I can't exactly let you take an entire planet's worth of Pokemon with you. Trust me, there's not enough space in this Warehouse and that might make things...boring,” she said the last word with a sigh through clenched teeth, “so I'm letting you know right now that whatever you have on you, your team of six, that is what will come with you when your decade is up. No storage PC, no Pokemon as companions. Six each. Got it.”</p><p>I nodded. Jack cautiously nodded as well, barely understanding half of the terms Jump was using.</p><p>“So let's talk about backgrounds.”</p><p>“Backgrounds? You mean like...an established history?” Jack inquired.</p><p>“Of course. None of this 'hey I'm actually from a different universe' stuff is actually optional. That would get a little one-note wouldn't you say?”</p><p>I clenched my teeth and balled up my fists, “Yeah, it would have been even better if it wasn't thrust upon me with as little warning as possible.”</p><p>“Cool beans. So what are you thinking? Well-off? Rural? Bra size?” She shot me a look with the last question.</p><p>“Oh screw off!”</p><p>“Okay, boy this time around,” she smiled.</p><p>I wanted to say something else, but with a quick gesture of the hand, everything stopped.</p><p>“And with that the sheets are done,” the sheets vanished from her hands in a puff of smoke. What? I don't even remember writing anything or confirming anything.</p><p>“Sorry guys, a life is more than just stats and numbers,” Jump replied, answering my unspoken question, “only by living it can you truly grasp what you have been given.”</p><p>Jump then took out a gray blocky device, a classic Game Boy, pulled out a simple gray cartridge from the ether and jammed it into the slot on the back.</p><p>“Now...let's start this new game, shall we?” and she flicked the power on. In an instant, everything went dark, the only sound being the chime of the handheld's activation.</p><p> </p><p>“Terry...Terry wake up. We're here.”</p><p>I groaned awake, the light rumbling of the truck's engine that rocked me to sleep finally slowing to a complete stop. I looked down relieved to see Bruce still asleep in my arms, his light orange feathers all ruffled up around his neck, his body glowing slightly from his natural heat. I looked out the window, to see the bright purple and orange haze of the early morning and the quaint dirt road leading up to an unassuming house in the distance. I quietly took out my pokeball and returned Bruce, almost immediately missing the warmth of my friend in doing so, and unfastened my seatbelt.<br/>“Mom, how are we going to get all of our stuff in there?” I yawned, “It'll take forever,”<br/>“Not to worry, son,” my dad beamed, dancing three pokeballs in his open hand as he killed the engine, “I rented some Machoke to help with that.” I blinked in surprise. I won't have to haul my desk and things in myself? Wow, his new job at Silph Co. might really be for the best.<br/>I stepped out into the cool morning dew and cautiously walked outside the front yard, and... it still didn't feel right. I missed the light salty seabreeze of the air of Hoenn, I missed my friends. I furrowed my brow, trying to come to terms with this newfound melancholy.<br/>	“It's okay Terry,” I heard my mom behind me, her hand on my shoulder, “It's...part of life. Change. Experiencing new things. It's...kind of how we humans evolve,” She smiled at the turn of phrase.<br/>	I turned up to meet her gaze, “I guess it's the kind we can't stop with an Everstone, right?”<br/>	“Now how in the world did you become so smart?” Mom laughed.<br/>	“Reading Professor Juniper's published papers on Pokemon and stones.” I confessed.<br/>	“Darn it son, if you're reading stuff like that at your age, you could probably replace her in a decade or two,” Dad joined me, kneeling down to meet my level, the Machoke working effortlessly in the background hauling box after box into our new home.</p><p>We stayed there in silence for a while, my hand tightening around Bruce's ball.</p><p>“Well...at least I still have you.” I muttered under my breath, “and together, we're going to go on so many adventures together. I promise.”</p><p>“Yeah, that's the spirit... the journey's just begun.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Reunited and It's Kind of Awkward</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jack storms through Castelia City looking to find something to shake up her dull day. Instead she bumps into a total stranger who is also an old friend.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The wind hit my body as I ran across the office building's thick platelike windows, the cold barely phasing me as it made its way through my insulated suit. Jessie clung hard to my back, squealing in delight as I continued my trek across the wall, ending with a confident launch to the neighboring rooftop. I landed in a roll and sprung back to my feet with practiced, familiar grace, and I maintained my momentum as I barged through the door to the stairwell and made several precise hops and flips down to the bottom floor. The boys were there to meet me, the chairs were already set up and their pokemon were already out and keeping watch.</p><p>“Hey Jack, you made it,” Tommy spoke up, his Scrafty giving a sharp salute before twisting it into a rude gesture with an impish smile.</p><p>“Yeah, I did. So what's going on with you?” I replied, dropping onto the nearest half-decent abandoned couch while Jessie hopped off to sniff around.</p><p>“Oh the usual, tried scaring off one of the new Gym Challengers who showed up today. Looks like one of those small town kids from Nuvema. He just smiled and challenged me to a battle.”</p><p>“And?”</p><p>“This freaking firey chicken thing came out and whipped my team like it was nothing. He has to be from somewhere else. Alola, Sinnoh, I dunno, somewhere out there, I don't have a map on me.” he shook his head and looked away.</p><p>“Not from around here huh,” I remarked to myself, “Maybe I should check this guy out. See if he's worth a bit of fun.” Jessie shot out a jet of flame in excitement.</p><p>“Hey, speaking of fun, I see you actually did it.” Tommy turned around and gestured at my exposed stomach, noticing the fresh ink on my left side.</p><p>“Oh yeah, snuck out last night and slipped some bucks to some guy I knew at this back alley. Looks pretty cool right?”</p><p>“Yeah it does. Looks exactly like Jessie. And pulling that off at sixteen? Jack, you're pretty hardcore.”</p><p>“Oh you have no idea,” I smiled. Two of Tommy's boys hooted and cheered after seeing the tattoo.</p><p>Then my Pokegear started to vibrate and chime. Oh no, that better not be who I think it is.</p><p>“Uhhh anyway which way is it to the Gym? Maybe I can spoil the little fish's first attempt at the badge if I hurry.” I spat out as I made my way to the door.</p><p>But before I could get the door open, the Pokegear went straight to voicemail, and in front of all my cool friends, my mother's voice spoke out.</p><p>“Hey Jack, it's mommy just making sure you got those energy bars I left for you before you went to go hang out with your friends. You and Jessie really should eat well if you're actually going to start your gym challenge today. But hey, if you don't, that's fine too. I am only here to support you!”</p><p>My face turned beet red as I scrambled to get the device to my ear.</p><p>“Hey mom. Can you do me a favor and stop interfering with my life? You don't know me!” my eyes darted to my friends, who were trying not to laugh, giving me looks. They failed. Then I found out it was on speaker phone.</p><p>“Oh my dear did I catch you at a bad time? Wanting to look all tough and independent? I am so sorry. Well, dinner's at six if you can make it.”</p><p>“Great, perfect, fine. Good-bye.”</p><p>“Oh also don't forget to treat that brand new tattoo we got you yesterday! You don't want to get an infection or a rash right?”</p><p>“Yes! Fine! I know!” I screamed, running out of the building to escape the boys' howling laughter.</p><p>“I love you, Jack.” I hung up. Jessie followed shortly behind me, leaping onto my shoulders and wrapping around the back of my neck.</p><p>“You could have gone one day without calling me!?” I exclaimed as I charged my way past several businessmen, tearing through the urban chaos of Castelia City's busy streets, making a beeline for the Gym. I gotta give this applecheeked so-and-so a little taste of reality before he thinks he can handle some bug leader like Burgh. Everyone always shows up for his art exhibits then act like they're so cool because of how stupid bugs are, thinking he's an easy badge. Yeah well newsflash mister superstar, I'm what you really should be afraid of!</p><p>I break through the thrall of people and make it to the entrance of Burgh's gym...and run straight into the back of the kid as he stood there like a total doof. A hit and a trip later, and I'm on top of him, his face in the gravel.</p><p>“Umm... excuse you?” he muttered into the street. Roll with it, Jack.</p><p>“Hey, you think you're hot stuff don't you? Kid from the burbs showing up here in our city thinking he can get an easy Gym badge, just another step on your rise to the top!?”</p><p>“Well actually I was going to see my dad and maybe try the Gym later...”</p><p>“Don't 'well, actually' me! Do you know who you're talking to?”</p><p>“Not at all.” He said through a smile. I blinked several times. I leapt off of him then kicked him on his back.</p><p>“The name's Jack, and me and my gang run this neighborhood. We're the toughest of the tough, and we don't just let anybody in around here!”</p><p>“Hello Jack. Let your mother know I'll return her tupperware later this evening, the cookies were delicious.” Mister Cordoroy spoke across the way.</p><p>“Yes! Fine!” I yelled. I heard several passersby comment at my outburst.</p><p>“Such a sweet girl, why does she have to keep putting on airs like that?”</p><p>“Ehh, teenagers, am I right?”</p><p>“Didn't she volunteer at the Pokemon Center that one time?”</p><p>“The point is!” I snarled through clenched teeth, “You wanna challenge Burgh!? You gotta go through me, first.” I demanded! Unhooking a pokeball from my belt and readying it.</p><p>The kid looked up with...excitement?</p><p>“Oh that is great! My second big battle here in Castelia City!” He leapt up effortlessly, fishing out a ball of his own from his jacket pocket. “Let's do it!”</p><p>As the crowd slowly widened to make way for our fight, something started to bother me.</p><p>“Hey...have we met before?” I asked.</p><p>“Nnnooo.” The kid replied with notable hesitation. “But I'm glad to have met you. Name's Terry,” he threw out his ball and in a burst of light emerged a two-legged orange feathered thing. It performed several kicks and struck a pose, “and this is my Combusken, Bruce.”</p><p>“A...wow you really aren't from around here. I've never seen that in my life.” Jessie hopped from my shoulder, clearly excited to take on such an exotic challenger.</p><p>“Huh...alright. Guess my Fennekin will take you on.”</p><p>“Three on three, no items, with two-hundred on the line?” Terry rattled off, holding up several bills to punctuate his last line.</p><p>I glanced at the last remaining ball on my belt. I only have one other one... but I can't back down now!</p><p>“Yeah! You're on!”</p><p>“Fantastic! Let's get pumped, Bruce!” Terry exclaimed while punching the air. Bruce started shadowboxing as well. Geez, these two are intense.</p><p>“Alright...Jessie, use Quick Attack.!” I declared.</p><p>“Double Kick, Bruce!”</p><p>Jessie darted and moved with blinding speed, a mere blur of orange as she sped towards Bruce. She struck him hard in the chest, causing the tall guy to stumble back. But he quickly found his footing and in a twist and turn, he kicked her while she was still in mid-air, then followed up with a second kick with his other leg. She flew back into the sidewalk with a bounce and a whimper. Several townspeople stepped away and winced at the strike.</p><p>“Jessie, are you alright?” She shakily started to find her footing.</p><p>“Rock Smash, Bruce!”</p><p>In an instant, Bruce came down with a fist raised!</p><p>“Dodge Jessie! Get out of there!” Her little eyes lit up and she rolled to the side, just in time for Bruce to shatter concrete with his fist. </p><p>“Hey, she's got pretty good reflexes,” Terry commented, “But I think there might be a gap in our skills. You should probably recall her, just to be safe.”</p><p>“Are you mocking us!?” I blurted out. Terry blinked in confusion. Alright, fine, let's test out that new move you just got, maybe that'll shut him up.</p><p>“Jessie, use your Psybeam attack!”</p><p>“Wait, what!?” Terry yelped.</p><p>Jessie's eyes glowed pink, crackling with energy, and an instant later two powerful beams of cascading power erupted from them, striking Bruce head on with sparks of energy flying everywhere. When it all settled down, Bruce was swaying back and forth, like he was spun around several times, and looked like he got run over by a truck.</p><p>“Bruce...buddy, you okay?” Terry said cautiously. His bird then flapped his arms around quickly, tripped and fell face-first on the ground unconscious. Wow, that actually worked.</p><p>Terry pulled out a pokeball and recalled Bruce, looking surprised at what just happened. I heard him muttering under his breath, something about levels and stages. But that uncertainty vanished immediately as he started beaming again, producing another pokeball from his belt. A dark green one with an orange band around the middle.</p><p>“Okay, looks like we're going to have a Greg day, today.” He spoke with a hint of malice in his voice. He threw the ball towards the battlefield where it opened, and in a flash of light appeared...nothing?</p><p>“Uhh....did you throw out a dud or something?”</p><p>“Nope,” Terry smiled. “Greg, give her a lick.”</p><p>Before I could ask what was going on, I saw something move in Jessie's shadow. A flicker, then a dark shadowy claw erupted from behind her, pulling out of the shadow like it was a shallow grave. Within a second, a dark purple floating ghost was behind Jessie, with white unfeeling eyes, a maniacal grin stretched across its entire body. It opened its mouth and a large disgusting tongue flopped out and licked Jessie, hard. She stood ramrod stiff, paralyzed in fear and horror as the lick finished. She fell to her side. The rest of the crowd exclaimed in surprise.</p><p>“What in the world is that thing!?” I shrieked.</p><p>“Greg!”</p><p>“What did he do to Jessie!?”</p><p>“Paralyzed her from the look of it. Classic Greg.” Terry shrugged. The shadowy thing formed in front of Terry, cackling maniacally while two floating claw-like hands floated in front of it. I flashed my pokedex and found it to be a Haunter.</p><p>“What happened? You look like you've just seen a ghost.” Terry smiles, Greg's laughs intensified.</p><p>“Oh I'll show you a ghost alright!” I screamed, recalling Jessie to her ball and pulling out Prince's ball in a quick gesture. An instant later, there was a burst of white light, and Prince was out, his glorious steel wings gleaming in the afternoon sun. Prince screeched in challenge. Terry and Greg traded quick looks.</p><p>“Screech, Prince!” I screamed. Everyone in the crowd started cupping their ears in preparation. And Prince screeched, focusing all of his sonic energy on Terry and Greg. Terry fell to his knee and looked in genuine pain, Greg's form looked like it was fizzling out. I took my chance!</p><p>“Now! Steel Wing attack!” Prince's wings glowed  silver as he dove straight towards Greg, slicing throw his ghostly form like a knife through butter! Greg started phasing in and out, trying to get away from Prince's assault, but he kept circling around and striking again. I don't know if a ghost can get hurt, but I am gonna find out one way or another!</p><p>Terry finally stood up and blurted out, “Hit him with Hypnosis!”</p><p>Greg's milky eyes flashed and his grin widened, maintaining an uncanny, fixed stretch of eye contact with Prince. My beautiful bird then fell out of the sky, completely asleep.</p><p>“I don't...how the-”</p><p>“Now Dream Eater,” Terry continued. Greg rolled out his tongue in a perverse matter as his eyes darkened to empty nothing, except now there appeared to be bright red dots in the middle as he slowly approached Prince. I then saw something leaving Prince, some force being pulled from him into Greg, and while Greg's form started to become more solid and consistent, Prince was squirming and in a great deal of pain.</p><p>“Stop!” I yelled, returning Prince to his ball. Greg, looked angry at being denied a meal, but Terry recalled him as well. I was shaking, and Terry looked... pensive?</p><p>“Well...that got a little too intense. Ghost Pokemon can be really hard to control. Still trying to bring him in a little. Sorry,” Terry apologized, “But hey. Round 3, winner takes all. Let's see who comes out on top! You ready?”</p><p>I felt myself slump over, “You win...” I muttered.</p><p>“I... what?”</p><p>“You win... I have no other Pokemon...” I turned around and started walking away, “enjoy your Gym battle, Terry, I gotta get my friends to the nearest Pokemon Center.”</p><p>I broke out into a mad dash, eyes shut and relying on pure instinct to take me where I needed to go. I was so stupid. What did you think was going to happen, Jack? You should have backed out when he said three-on-three. Stupid, stupid, stupid.</p><p>I practically threw Jessie and Prince's balls at Nurse Joy when I entered the center, thankfully I was the only person there waiting treatment. I sat in a chair nearby, just glad that I didn't go any further with that battle. Maybe I should just not bother with a Gym Challenge if I can't even take out some out-of-town kid....</p><p>I then felt something cold on my shoulder; a can of lemonade. Held by Terry, sitting next to me.</p><p>“You looked like you could use a pick-me-up.” he smiled.</p><p>“I don't need your pity,” I scowled...as I popped the top and took a swig. “Already won your big Gym Battle, huh hotshot? Here to gloat about it?” I groaned and looked to the ground.</p><p>“No I came here to get my team patched up as well. Plus I also got a call from my dad. Turns out that lunch he promised with me isn't going to happen. Soooo I'm basically stuck here until my cab arrives to take me back home.”</p><p>“Oh...well... I guess we both kind of got disappointed today,” I smiled weakly.</p><p>“Hey, you put up one hell of a fight. No badges, using only two Pokemon, and with no real type-advantages or diverse strategies. You have a style, Jack, and it is something.” Terry beamed.</p><p>“I only understood like half of what you just said.”<br/>
“Seriously, when I tried starting my Gym Challenge in Hoenn, I didn't see anything like that before. In fact, how about you come with me?” Terry held out his hand. “We can help each other improve together.”</p><p>Wanna go on an adventure, Jack? See the multiverse, figure out how to solve this weird outbreak? See me when I don't have blue skin and robots shooting at me?</p><p>I flinched at the errant thought. But it didn't feel wrong. It was like I was remembering something from long ago.</p><p>“You know what, Variza? I'd like that a lot.” I smiled and took her hand, “I mean Terry. Sorry, something really weird just happened.”</p><p>Terry flinched and shook his head as well. Then slowly fished a normal-looking key out of his pocket.</p><p>“I wouldn't say it's weird at all, Jack. I think we just woke up.” and he ran to the exit doors of the Pokemon Center, putting the key into the lock. Before I could ask what was going on, the doors opened to reveal....</p><p>“The Warehouse...” I gasped. Nurse Joy's jaw dropped at the sight. “Oh my gosh...it was all real. The experiments, the cult I was in, joining the Normandy crew, coming here...all of it...”</p><p>“Yep,” Terry responded. But I knew, I knew his other names and faces now.</p><p>“Alright, so... what are we gonna do now? Capture a Pokemon God? Become world champions and live like celebrities? Come on, what's the next big adventure?”</p><p>Terry then stepped into the old Kodiak Shuttle, “Oh that's simple, we are going on vacation. We're gonna go to the most mellow places in all the regions and just have a party that never ends!”</p><p>“...wait what?”</p><p>“You're flying.”</p><p>“I what? WHAT!?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>From here on out, I will try to add chapters to this work on a bi-weekly basis. Stay tuned everyone and thank you for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 2: Two Doofuses and a Spaceship</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jack and the Jumper, who she refers to as Blue in a coy reminder of their first meeting, discuss the world of Pokemon, their role in it, and proceed to go camping in the Galar region.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter did take a bit longer to develop for multiple reasons, but thankfully I managed to get out as much as I wanted regarding set-ups, conflict, and having fun fleshing out Jack's character now that she's effectively divorced from her tragic upbringing in Mass Effect, while also throwing in some unexpected curveballs regarding my Jumper OC's "Not as omniscient an uber-nerd as you think" experience with the world of Pokemon.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So I just keep my hand on the yoke then?” Blue asked cautiously while gesturing at the dashboard.</p><p>“Yeah, you got it,” I replied. “Just keep an eye here and here, that's you're altimeter and your speedometer, basically. Fuel is based on the FTL core which runs on eezo and electricity, so we should be fine basically indefinitely there.”</p><p>“Alright, we're almost to our destination now...so uhh, can you get Prince out of my face?” he asked politely, gesturing to Prince's razor sharp wings held to his throat.</p><p>“That depends. You aren't going to keep using me as your personal pilot anymore now that you know how to fly, are you?”</p><p>“Nope!” he squeaked. “I can fly myself now, Jack. Thank you!”</p><p>“Good.” Prince lowered his wing and flew back to my side, Blue exhaled sharply in relief. I smiled and fell into the seat next to him, propping my feet up on the dashboard. It was so weird seeing them like this again. I snorted and looked away.</p><p>“So, we're seriously going to not do anything to help this world? Just go on a vacation?” I finally asked.</p><p>“That's right. Hit a beach, get into some fights for money or for fun, make sure our little pocket buddies are the best they can be, obviously. But otherwise, forget the Gym Challenges, forget the Pokemon League, forget tracking down mythical and legendary Pokemon for ourselves.” Blue projected, slowing down the shuttle's speed as the radar revealed an impending land mass. Was this seriously the same guy who tried smooth talking his way into ending a galactic war?</p><p>“Okay, that might be the dumbest thing I've heard in a long while from you. You said it yourself that we're probably going to much more dangerous worlds than this next. Why aren't we going to join the fight here? It can't be due to something like The Reapers, because the way you talk about this place, if you're smart about it, you can shove basically anything into one of these balls and make it your master. What is the problem?”</p><p>He sighed, set the shuttle's autopilot then swiveled the chair to meet my gaze. I didn't know a teenager could look so tired.</p><p>“Do you really wanna know why?”</p><p>I nodded, though I could feel a scowl I had slowly vanishing.</p><p>“Jack, ever since I was a little kid, I loved playing Pokemon. There was a great rush in being this little kid in this big world training to be the best. Traveling from place to place, helping people out, getting to be Champion, and also saving the world in the process from an evil organization. Then doing it again in another game. And again. And again. It started to become rote. And all I ever seemed to see of this big world was just in that basic context. Get your starter, go on a journey, maximmize for the best team to crush your enemies, get showered in prize money to the point where you could buy your own private island, capture the local mythical gods, then rinse and repeat.<br/>“Jack... it got so boring to me. After Generation Three, that was based in the Hoenn region by the way, I actually gave up on Pokemon. It just became so dull, knowing all these little ins and outs. Then some friends managed to bring me back in and...well I told myself to put some personal restrictions and just play for fun. Keep my starter on the team, do not use any legendary or mythical Pokemon. Don't just play to dominate, but just play to enjoy. And I liked it a lot more for it. Now, I have an opportunity to actually have a life here, to live and enjoy myself without having to worry about the end of the world or something. I don't have to be the kid that saves us all from doom, and I want to enjoy that.”</p><p>I chose my next words carefully, “And how do you know that? How do you know this isn't like Shepard?”</p><p>I felt my pokegear beep and vibrate. I pulled it out and with a few button presses got a headline to an article.</p><p>“Research Into The Link Cable Phenomenon Baffles Theoretical Physicists?”</p><p>“Oh crud, sorry. No, the one below it.”</p><p>“Coming to Terms With My Demons: An Interview with Ex-Team Rocket Leader Giovanni?”</p><p>“Yep. Read it.”</p><p>I shrugged and looked over it, reading out loud:</p><p>“'It feels weird doesn't it? One minute you're the head of a vast criminal empire, stealing from countless people with ferocious Pokemon trained by loyal men while maintaining the greatest front ever as a Gym Leader for the esteemed Pokemon League, the next minute you get torn down by some kid who blew through your best enforcers then takes you down and goes on to be the Champion...'”</p><p>I looked up at Blue. He shrugged and gestured to continue.</p><p>“Honestly, my first reaction was to throw everything at him. Go after his family, force him to bow to me. But... I dunno, something about this kid reminded me of what I was like when I started my journey. Optimistic, kind, and he had this amazing bond with his Pokemon. It made me want to take a look at myself. So I turned myself in and disbanded Team Rocket. And while I was imprisoned I couldn't help but think about what this kid, Red, brought to me. So, after I left, I remembered how good it felt to just play and bond with my Pokemon and, somehow despite losing so much power and all the money in the world, I have never felt happier.”</p><p>I blinked a few times.</p><p>“Yep. That happened in the Kanto region a few years ago. Which indirectly affected situations in the Johto region. Some kid basically became Champion, and saved the world. This boss, this Giovanni, was the same guy who basically funded a project to create an ultimate uber-Pokemon that almost wiped out the planet. Now he's just chilling in the mountains somewhere.”</p><p>I wanted to swear, but it caught in my throat.</p><p>“But...what about the future? There's clearly a history that you've experienced. Why aren't you... you know, doing that thing you did before?”</p><p>“You mean besides the fact that I failed spectacularly?” Blue quipped. I opened my mouth and closed it several times.</p><p>“Well...Pokemon's world has its own multiverse. Every single version of every single player who played every single installment in the series is treated as its own self-contained world. But since Red exists, we already know there's at least one world Champion who will be called to deal with any of these threats if it were to arise. As far as I can tell, heroic youths are a constant here.”</p><p>“And if it isn't?”</p><p>Blue shrugged, “I guess we'll have to deal with it if it happens. But considering how impressive Red is, I doubt it'll come to that. Or maybe the local kids of those regions will handle it. Either way, Jack, the way I see it, if things get bad, we either run or deal with it.”</p><p>Honestly, I wanted to hit him as hard as I could. Just go on a vacation? Easy for him to say. But for me, I couldn't just let this sit.</p><p>“Fine.” I responded. “But if you're taking an early retirement from a career of winning all the time, you better be sharing that with me. We do need to prepare and we got, what, about five years? You know this stuff inside and out, so let's get to training.”</p><p>Blue smiled and turned back around to power down the engine, the landing sequence setting us in some open field.</p><p>“Soo...where are we now, mister Pokemon Master?” I asked.</p><p>“According to the maps, a place called the Galar region.” Blue responded.</p><p>“Alright, what do you know about it?” I smirked, recalling Prince and making sure the rest of my balls were fastened.</p><p>“Absolutely nothing other than it has big open fields and camping is a thing. Perfect for a vacation!” Blue smiled, as he dashed out through the shuttle doors. Are you kidding me?</p><p>“Come on Jack, first lesson of the day,” he tossed out a Pokeball, and was joined by Bruce in a flash of light later, “Type advantage, triangle theory, and status effects. In fact, I think Prince would be a great example to demonstrate how much of a push and pull it'd have!”</p><p>I felt my jaw clenching out of how he got to have his cake and eat it too, but then the clear open air and a gentle breeze hit me and a swath of old (new?) memories flowed into me. A loving supporting family taking me out for picnics, playing catch with Jessie, going swimming in a lake. It felt so nice, and it gave me so much joy that it almost wiped away the torment I had suffered on Pragia, the cult of jerks I followed out in the Terminus Systems felt like a bad dream. It was just another life, barely remembered. In an instant, I was just glad to be sharing something so pure with a friend again. I called out Prince and we got to it.</p><p>The way he explained it, Pokemon could generally fall into two different elemental types, each one with their own strengths and weaknesses. Like Rock, Paper, Scissors, there is always at least one hard counter to the other. But with stuff like his Combusken and my Skarmory, things got interesting when it came dual types. Flying beats Fighting, which gave me an advantage over Bruce, but it also made my bird even more vulnerable to Rock type attacks. Which Blue then demonstrated by Bruce using Rock Slide on him, the jerk. Secret lesson; if you're clever some Pokemon can learn moves outside of their respective type. I took notes all the same and even had some use of an Echorecorder mom (thanks a lot you considerate little...) got me to record the matches.</p><p>A few months went by in the Galar region, and all told, it felt like one big vacation. Every day we'd sleep in the Kodiak shuttle, get up and eat, travel to one of the nearby towns for supplies, battle some trainers for money who came by to investigate the spaceship, then go back to the open field for battles, training, and even catching a few Pokemon before turning in. Blue himself even mentioned how odd it was that were so many different ones from many different places roaming around.</p><p>There was one particular morning where I found an Absol running away from a small fire that had spread at someone's camp site, it barking for us to do something. After we helped smolder the flames and helped the trainers get out, I noticed the thing stick around, like I had passed some sort of test of trust. After checking my Pokedex I found out Absols were mostly blamed for causing disasters, mostly because they had some sort of sixth sense for knowing when they would occur, leading to the myth. We battled, she gave Jessie a run for her money, but in the end, the little disaster dog was mine. I named her Sira. </p><p>There was also a weird day where we woke up to find a Snorlax had broken into the ship and ate all of our food and took off like some sort of vanishing bear. We asked around, but trainers kept implying it might have been the Frogadier Blue had. He got really angry at the accusation, he said something about how it was a gift from an exchange student he knew from Kalos back in the day. It wasn't until we found the thing fighting another trainer, tossing around his Wartortle like a ragdoll while still smelling of cheese dust and spicy curry that we found our culprit. I somehow managed to catch it myself, then named her Variza. Blue gave me an evil look; I just laughed.</p><p> Then there was a weird day where Blue got magically teleported into the middle of an island in a lake. He came back with a Kadabra that he named Copperfield. He chuckled at the reference, I just rolled my eyes.</p><p>I never openly admitted it, but I was starting to understand where Blue was coming from. No threats, just a bunch of friends helping each other be better. It was kind of infectious.</p><p>And then we met Gloria.</p><p>“Oi! I cannae see a blasted thing wit tha eyesore imma wae!” I heard a voice cry outside the ship. I turned over in my sleeping bag to look over at Blue, he was snoring like a Snorlax. I punched him in the arm.</p><p>“Hey jerk! I think we got a visitor!” He rolled over and waved me away. Fine, guess I'm taking care of it. I stepped outside to see the young trainer, wearing a plaid skirt and a green hat.</p><p>“Oh there ya are, Princess! Wha' in th' world d'ya think y'are wit ya fancy spaceship!? We come out tae git away from technology an' civilization!”</p><p>I blinked several times in confusion. “Umm...I'm sorry? I think?”<br/>“Tell ya wha'? We battle! A win, ya take tha' big metal bar a soap an' ya fly off! Ya win, a leave! Simple enough fir ya, space woman?” She brandished a ball, practically jogging in place.</p><p>“Alright fine miss...?”</p><p>“Gloria.”</p><p>“Jack. Let's bring it, Jessie!” in a flash, she was right next to me, fully evolved into a Delphox.She barely came up to my shoulder, but it still amazed me how much she grew. She twirled her stafflike stick as it flashed aflame.</p><p>“Git out here Angus!” Gloria shrilled, throwing out a ball as well revealing...an adorable looking sheep?</p><p>“Wat? Ye never seen a Wooloo before?” Gloria snapped.</p><p>“I... well... ummm...”</p><p>“Well lessie ya laugh at this, then!?” Gloria then revealed an arm bracelet that slowly glowed a brighter and brighter red light. Before I could ask what was going on, a wave of energy burst forth from the bracelet, and her Wooloo kept growing...and growing...and growing.</p><p>“Dynamax Angus!” Gloria yelled in triumph!</p><p>“What in the world is going on!?”<br/> Gloria just kept laughing. Then Blue finally stumbled out of the ship.</p><p>“Alright, I heard a lot of yelling, if it's about the ship we can WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING!?!?”</p><p>“I don't know!”</p><p>“Get in the ship, Jack!”</p><p>“What!?”</p><p>“Get in the ship now! We're getting out of here!!”</p><p>He didn't have to tell me twice! Jessie and I ran in and the doors sealed shut behind us. Blue was already beginning the takeoff sequence.</p><p>“Jack, what in the world did you say to that girl?” Blue sputtered out through panicked breaths.</p><p>“She just wanted us to get the ship out of the way. Then something about Dynamaxing then suddenly giant sheep!”</p><p>“Oh my word. Jack... there's more of them out there! Look!” He pointed outside.</p><p>And I saw it. Gigantic Pokemon. Towering over buildings, pulsing with red, crackling energy. Some were in giant stadium arenas, others were roaming the countryside.</p><p>“What are we going to do?” I asked.</p><p>“Old Polish proverb: Not my circus, not my monkeys!” Blue gunned the engines and we took off back into the clouds.</p><p>We both took a while to calm down, letting the auto-pilot take us to our next destination. It wasn't until Jessie started to fall asleep that I finally returned to the cockpit.</p><p>“Blue...I...is it okay if I keep calling you that?”</p><p>“It's not an unusual name around here so, sure.”</p><p>“I... we...” I kept trying to find the right words. “Look I... I'm glad we had some time to figure this stuff out, and...after everything that happened with the Reapers, it makes sense that you want to take it easy for a while. But...what if I want to explore and get to know this place better? Go out on my own?”</p><p>Blue hesitated, taking a deep breath before turning to face me. “You want us to split up?”</p><p>“Yeah. I mean, obviously we'll see each other again but... all of this is still new to me, full of wonder. I mean... I have a family now. A loving family. And friends. And everyone isn't trying to just get something out of me. I have a brand new life here, and I want to live it. You might have gotten sick of this place, but that shouldn't mean I have to look away as well. Does that make any sense?”</p><p>Blue slowly exhaled and leaned back in the pilot's seat.<br/>“Alright.”</p><p>“And I don't wanna hear some macho need to protect me or some- wait what?”</p><p>“Just keep me in your contacts list and if you need a lift, I'll swing by. Maybe a year apart will do us some good.”</p><p>I felt my jaw clench then loosen several times. “You're okay with that? None of this worrying about me dying or something?”</p><p>“Jack, you're a biotic reformed criminal who survived a galactic war with a psychic firefox as a companion, a dog that can sense impending doom, a metal bird that fly at sonic speeds, and a giant boxing stresseater as your back-up. Most kids on their Pokemon journeys are lucky to have half of that. Trust me, I think you'll be fine. Just remember if you hear about an organization called Team Whatever-”</p><p>“Don't listen to their ravings and walk away. If they don't let me walk, beat them down then walk away.”</p><p>“That's right.”</p><p>Wow...that was easier than I thought.</p><p>“So...where are we going to next? Cuz I have an idea of where I'd like to go.”</p><p>“The Sinnoh region.”</p><p>“Really?” Okay, this would be easier than I thought, I felt my hand go to the Pokedex in my pocket in comfort.</p><p>“Yeah. It was the one region I never fully had a chance to explore due to my hiatus of the series. It's the closest thing to a new world for both of us to explore. Well, aside from Galar's kaiju business. And I keep seeing advertisements for some monastery that focuses on the power of Aura. Might take a crack at that. What about you?”</p><p>“Oh just...y'know, traveling around, getting into adventures. Maybe try out the sweet shop or something.” I lied.</p><p>“Alright” Blue smiled as the ship slowly landed in a clearing near some forest. “Let's enjoy ourselves. Umm, properly this time.”</p><p>After a few minutes of packing up we said our good-byes and Blue trekked away. Once I was sure he was gone I fished out my Pokedex and went back to my bookmarked entry on a mythical Pokemon known as Shaymin.</p><p>“Allegedly seen in the Sinnoh Region, this Pokemon is said to bloom flowers from its body manifested from gratitude it feels towards those who treat it well. It is said that with enough of this bountiful gratitude, Shaymin can purify any toxin found in the air, and help bring back bountiful flowers and life to once barren and dead lands.<br/>“Alright...sounds like a good first step to restoring the Milky Way when this is all over. Time to track down some leads.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 3: in Search of Gratitude</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jack's journey for the legendary Pokemon Shaymin leads to an unexpected detour and a request from an unlikely source.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Alright, time for some explanations.</p><p>Long story short, a lot of major life changes came at me rapidfire. Plus the pandemic, plus several job changes. Because of that I really struggled to get this chapter going.</p><p>Then overtime, the perspective and pacing of the chapter and the entire Jump fiction changed.</p><p>Eventually I came back around to Jack's motivations and wants, a way to focus a bit more on her being more than just a companion to the main character. It also meant understanding her more as a character, giving her own challenges and arcs, keeping it within my own specific confines and parameters, and a few other things that just added to the workload.</p><p>Thank you all for your patience, and here's hoping these start coming out more consistently.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Help!! Jack, please help me!” Doctor Brewell cried out, his belt of pokeballs falling out of reach as the powerful river current thrashed him about. The current lead to a nearby cave into the unknown. Jessie was next to me as I stared down from the cliffside, I felt her reaching out with her psychic powers, trying to get a grasp of the doctor and his companions, but nothing seemed to work.</p><p>“What's wrong? Is it something to do with the environment?” I asked her out loud.</p><p>I felt her voice inside mine speak. I think so, and I feel nothing past that cave.</p><p>“Darn it. If we lose him, all of our research goes with him. Quick, return, I'll handle this.” With a flick of my wrist I recalled Jessie and clipped her ball to my belt, already leaping off the cliff with my BASE-jumping suit ready to go.</p><p>I dove and glided past the expanse of humid lush jungle in a beeline towards Brewell. Right when I felt him underneath me, I broke my stance, throwing another ball towards the cave entrance,  then flipped into a dive towards Brewell. In a flash, Variza was there, her large frame and stature making her a perfect seal on an unknown fate. The doctor grabbed on to me as we bounced against Variza's ample fat.</p><p>“Quick, my assistants!” the doctor cried out. Variza was already spreading her arms wide to catch the balls, the current breaking against her. In a few moments, all six balls were in Variza's hands, the doctor and I stuck between a large fleshy buoy and a raging river current.</p><p>Before the doctor could respond, we felt a shift in the current as Variza lost her footing. In an instant, she slipped and fell backwards, but not before holding us close to her for dear life. We almost suffocated under her, but we were safe. Water coursed around us, I felt the impact of the rocks and the current course through Variza as she held on to us like a living life preserver.</p><p>When I finally woke up, I was face first in the dirt, Variza panting heavily to my side, her breath shaking me awake. Doctor Brewell was nearby as well, his patchy gray hair twitching with his furrowed brow as he slowly got to his feet. My body ached all over but I pushed myself up, recalling Variza and getting a good look at just where in the world we were.</p><p>It was...definitely not subterranean. We were in the clearing of a large forest. I didn't even hear water. I thought I saw fog but after a few breaths I could tell the air felt thinner. Were these clouds? How did we end up so high up? How did we even get here at all?</p><p>“Doctor.. are you up?” I breathed.</p><p>“Good heavens, I thought I passed on!” He yelped. “Yeah, I guess I'm up.” he got to his feet and dusted himself off. “Goodness me, where in the world are we?”</p><p>“That's what I was about to ask!” I replied.</p><p>Doctor Brewell walked in a small circle, adjusting his large round spectacles. He muttered to himself, the bristles of his moustache twitching as he continued to observe.</p><p>“Well? Anything?”</p><p>“...nope. I don't recognize this place at all.” He replied with a dumb smile.</p><p>“Great. So what are we going to do now? I doubt any of our fliers can get us out of here from this high of an elevation and teleportation is out since something is messing with psychic abilitles.” I rattled, my mind going a mile a minute.</p><p>Brewell stroked his facial hair for a while, his head tilted. After a long stretch of time, he perked up and raised a finger in a “Eureka” pose.</p><p>“Set up camp.” He smiled.</p><p>“I...what?”</p><p>“Set up camp. We need to take stock of what we have and get a base of operations set up. The last thing we need to do is get more lost than we are. What is the one thing I've been saying since we've been working together? Nothing is impossible-”</p><p>“-it just takes more time to figure out.” I sputter out. “Yes I know. God you sound like him all over again.”</p><p>“You mean your friend?” Brewell remarked as he opened his small backpack and fished out two tents, two sleeping bags, a map, two compasses, and materials for a campfire and chairs.</p><p>“Yeah...” I helped Brewell set up camp. Within about an hour, we had a fire going, granted it took a lot of help from Jessie –  I speculated that the fire was running more on her psychic abilities than natural oxygen due to the elevation –  still fire was fire. We tried scanning the area with our tools and got a basic set up of the local geography, mostly heavy forest, but everything else was blurry and inconclusive. I grinded my teeth, fighting the urge to throw the scanners at a rock. Instead, I double checked the balls containing Doctor Brewell's assistants, taking out my kit and making sure the intricate systems weren't damaged.</p><p>“Well at least the water seals held.” I muttered, tossing them back to the good doctor. He smiled, and with a flick of his wrist, his assistants were out. A squirtle hobbled around and began producing clean water in our open containers, waddling about with a wide smile on its dumb turtle face. Two pidgeottos circled the camp's perimeter in stoic silence, gliding elegantly on the wind. A sandslash dove into the earth with gusto, looking about before digging what I have to assume to be our outhouse, a trash pit, and a small dirt perimeter. Finally a jolteon stretched its legs before arching its back and with a roar of effort unloaded streaks of lightning into a power generator.</p><p>And I opened up a bag of food for all of them and started preparing dishes. Then I fished out a jumbo-sized XL bag for Variza. </p><p>I kept trying to lift it with my telekinesis only for it not to come. I could have used my biotic power, but I was far too exhausted. Instead I just opened the top of the bag and wafted the smell in her direction. Several large thumps followed by an earthshaking whuff was heard behind me. The sound of a trash compactor going to town followed after. I left her to her meal.</p><p>Despite being here for at least eight years. Eighteen. Whatever. Pokemon were pretty darn neat.</p><p>It wasn't until nightfall rolled around that the exhaustion fully hit me. I tore through ration bars like they were about to go bad while Dr. Brewell started making soup in a large pot. The man knew his spices since the smell gave my stomach fantasies of flavor and fulfillment. If I was drooling, I was trying to hide it. Brewell smiled as if he knew anyway.</p><p>“Tell me something, Jack. Why exactly did you decide to help with my expedition?” He inquired while lazily stirring the giant pot.</p><p>I shrugged, “Academic curiosity I guess?” Brewell cocked an eyebrow. “Alright, I guess curiosity doesn't last two years and change.” Brewell turned his attention back to the pot.</p><p>After a while, I spoke up, “I was... curious about the potential Shaymin could have to...bring back what was dead. Make things grow again where the ground remained barren.”</p><p>“You think it has the potential for that power? It just causes flowers to bloom whenever its around people who are grateful.” Brewell coughed, “According to the myths of course.”</p><p>“I know but...flowers can lead to more. It's better than just a field full of nothing.” I remarked. Brewell held up his hand a noncommittal gesture.<br/>“Considering all the other ways Pokemon and humanity have been working against deforestation and economic restoration around the world, why such a focus on Shaymin? You planning on trying to terraform the moon or something?” Brewell laughed heartily.</p><p>I smiled, “Something like that.”</p><p>“Well, I will say you carry your weight well enough. Helping to build my tools and energy batteries, plus fixing general wear and tear on our pokeballs has saved me quite a lot of money. Where did you study electronics and engineering?”</p><p>My hand went to the Omni-Tool tucked underneath my sleeve, “I guess I just have a natural knack for it.”</p><p>“A savant. Wonderful.” Brewell's moustache danced about in joy.</p><p>The conversation eventually died down as dinner was served. Everyone slept soundly that night, and I tried in vain to figure out just what exactly he spiced the soup with until I drifted off into dreamland.</p><p>I awakened several hours later with Sira barking urgently, her horn glowing a dull blue. Disaster was nearby. I leapt out of bed, my partners clipped to my belt, and followed Sira into the forest.</p><p>The whole place was covered in thick fog, Sira's glow my only light source. Despite my protests, she continued to move forward urgently. I continued to protest, but my urgent calling slowly died as I saw shapes moving in the distance. Shadowy blurs streaking past my peripheral vision.</p><p>Sira finally stopped in her tracks and dropped into a low stance, ready to defend me. I didn't need to ask what had got her riled up. I saw a silhouette in the fog, its eyes glowing a deep red. I could feel power flowing from it, a kind of pressure that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.<br/>Worse still, I didn't need to check my pokedex to understand what I was facing down. And Sira's worry was perfectly justified, we were facing down what amounted to a living natural disaster.</p><p>“Mewtwo...” I gasped. Sira growled but took a step back.</p><p>I felt something invisible clutch my throat and something penetrate my mind, the strength was like an industrial press. With some effort, I unclipped Variza from my belt with a flex of my biotics, despite my muscles protesting. I still didn't fully understand how my amps stayed hidden in my body this whole time but boy are they useful right now. In a flash she appeared before, ready to throw down.</p><p>“Giga Impact that blowhard!” I choked out. Before I even finished that sentence, Variza had leapt out of sight like she was going to the moon... and then came down with all of the impact of a falling star. I heard wood splinter and crack and felt the ground lurch and ripple under my legs. Dust kicked up in a burst, blinding me.</p><p>When the dust cleared, Variza stood triumphant over a crumpled heap. A crumpled heap that immediately melted away into shadow. Before I could call out another command, an invisible whirlwind slashed away at her, leaving large scrapes and cuts across her whole body. Variza buckled and collapsed.</p><p>Noticing Mewtwo was no longer holding me, I recalled Variza and Sira, replacing her with Jesse and Prince. Reading my intentions, Jesse puffed up and unleashed a spurt of glowing flame towards the mythical Pokemon, Prince flying up and preparing for a divebomb on Mewtwo's threatening shape. A blast of energy cut through the flame and slammed Jesse head-on, causing her to tumble and slam into a nearby tree trunk. With one hand I recalled Jesse... and I through a wave of biotic energy at Mewtwo with the other. <br/>I saw a flicker of confusion over Mewtwo as the wave of dark-blue rose up to greet him. It's hesitation was enough for the wave to knock him off his feet... setting him up for Prince's divebomb. A giant armored bird plummeting at your target with the force of a peregrine falcon is bad enough, but Prince was glowing with pure unbridled dynamic force. Brave Bird, it hits like a freight train whether you're a super Pokemon or not.</p><p>Prince slammed into a crater behind Mewtwo, landing with a small bounce before slowly limping away, the thin air hampering his recovery. As for Mewtwo, he was hurt badly. I took my opportunity, unclipped an Ultra Ball from my belt and threw it at him....</p><p>Then I recalled Prince and ran for my life.</p><p>I wasn't expecting to catch Mewtwo, just tie him up long enough to get back to camp, shake Brewell awake then get the heck out of here. Weird psychic dampening field or not, there had to be a way out of here. It would also give me a chance to heal up my group. Terry Blue wasn't kidding when he told me just how dangerous this heavyweight was.</p><p>I didn't make it two steps before Mewtwo stepped out behind a tree, the moonlight showing his tall figure in perfect clarity, lifting me off my feet with his mind like I was a paperclip. I grabbed my throat in a panic, my body moving pull an invisible choking grip on me that...wasn't there.</p><p>Instead, Mewtwo approached me, floating like he was underwater until we were practically nose-to-nose. His deep purple eyes glowed a bright blue, and I felt his mind peek into mine.</p><p>It started as a simple demand, “Who are you? Why are you here?”</p><p>What came next was a clip show of my own life. My time on that wretched base on Pragia. The beatings. The experiments. The torture. The nonstop fights in the yard. The rewards of better food and drink for winning. The painful biotic implants they put into me. The stories and lessons about the dangers of the Council. The propoganda about how the different alien races of the Milky Way galaxy were disempowering humans, treating them like second class citizens on every conceivable level. The big fat lie that this ruthlessness was so humanity could take back what was rightfully ours, that we deserved to be on top, and that all of this abuse was like being pampered like a princess compared to the future those dirty aliens wanted for us.</p><p>The massacre at the station. My escape. Cerberus tracking me down, putting me in restraints and hauling me off to Purgatory Station. The pure delight of making hardened criminals wet themselves at the mere mention of my name. The cruelty I was able to impose on them before they begged me to stop.</p><p>The day Blue became my cellmate. Our escape. Meeting Shepard. The Crew. Seeing the galaxy for how it truly was. Finally getting my own freedom. My own respect and care. Friends... colleagues....</p><p>The Reaper War. The aftermath. The promise Blue made.</p><p>The key to making that happen... Shaymin.</p><p>Mewtwo glided back, letting me drop to my feet, his face contorted in an inscrutable snarl.</p><p>“You...you are like me.” he spoke. Then he opened his mind to me. I saw his creation in a lab somewhere, how he was meant to be a weapon. How he escaped and grew to hate humanity. But how the kindness of a few kids made him less cruel. How he left civilization to be a protector of his fellow Pokemon.</p><p>He wasn't wrong. Same notes; different instrument. At least Team Rocket was honest about it being about world domination.</p><p>With a gesture, Mewtwo called several shadows to come out of the forest. Sharp claws, long spiky fur coats, and their appearance kept shifting from ominous-looking Mewtwo shadows to their natural forms: Zoroarks. In retrospect, it made my battle make more sense. The claw marks on Variza should have given it away.</p><p>The Zoroarks didn't approach, whether it was out of fear or respect for Mewtwo was hard to tell, but as they grouped up, the fog and that ongoing psychic pressure slowly dissipated.</p><p>“You intentions are noble, human,” he spoke again in my mind. “and your...experiences appear different. Alien to our world. But I see you in me, and the choices you made. I can sense your good intentions.”</p><p>“T-t-thank you.” I pattered out. “But...why do all of this?”</p><p>“There are others like you. Those who hear the myths and stories. Those who have...darker desires. This place is meant to dissuade them. Disorient them. Bring their journies to cruel ends.” The Zoroarks shifted into horrific nightmarish shadows. They looked like twisted versions of the mythical Pokemon I read as a child. In a blink, they were back to normal.</p><p>“All to protect those at the greatest of risks. It is why this place exists, and why I am its protector.”</p><p>“But...the river in the cave. If you did nothing we might have drowned.” I responded. “Unless...”</p><p>Mewtwo turned away for a moment, then regained its composure. “Like you, I strive to not be what I was made to be.”</p><p>I felt myself smile at the recognition. A moment later, Mewtwo released his grip and I felt the ground beneath me again.</p><p>“So...will you help me? Will you let me have Shaymin?” I bit my tongue too late. How do you not make that last sentence sound creepy?</p><p>“It's not that simple, child.” Mewtwo responded. He floated back and forth, his expression turning inwards. After a while I heard him speak in my mind once again.</p><p>“While I do protect the Pokemon of myth who reside here, I still cannot control their nature. Shaymin will only present itself in the presence of pure expressions of gratitude.”</p><p>“Well...” I chose my next words carefully. I didn't want to offend the thing that could turn my mind into scrambled egg, “that...sucks.” I choked out.</p><p>I swear I saw Mewtwo smile at my response. “I may be able to help with this endeavor, child.”</p><p>Before I could ask how, its eyes began to glow a brilliant white. I could feel his psychic gaze pour over me, beyond the forest, and into the rest of the world. </p><p>Was he...reading everyone's minds?</p><p>After what felt like forever, his eyes returned to normal and I felt the pressure vanish.</p><p>“There is a place in the Alola region. A manmade island meant for research into the unknown. Openings into another world. It is being coordinated by another team who were responsible for the construct known as the Link Cable. The device humans used to discover parallel worlds in the Kalos region.”</p><p>“I...is something about to happen on that island?”</p><p>“I cannot say that for certain, child. My powers only let me read the minds of humans, but I cannot see the future. What I can see is something you and I are all too familiar with: ambition and desire that has begun to erode sensibility and compassion.”</p><p>I began to put the pieces together. “There's a very good chance something might happen if no one is there to keep it in check. Which could lead to-”</p><p>“Truly dire consequences. Consequences that a grateful world will recognize if they do not come to pass.”</p><p>Right. Sounds as good a goal as any. Stop a bunch of scientists from doing something bad, and the world will be grateful, and hopefully Shaymin recognizes it.</p><p>Now that I thought about, that had to be the most flimsy logic ever. And I stuck around with Blue for almost seven years.</p><p>But it was all I had to go on.</p><p>“I shall grant you what aid I can. Just know that the one called Brewell will be safe.”</p><p>Before I could ask what he meant, my vision became filled with bright light, and I felt my body being pushed through time and space....</p><p>The cool ocean waves jerked me awake. Warm sand was beneath me, and the sounds of children playing echoed in the distance. Then a Krabby pinched my ear, jolting me to my feet in an instant. The beachgoers gave me several confused looks before they went about their business. Apparently seeing people getting teleported was normal around here.</p><p>I scrambled to a nearby shop and stepped inside. It looked like an ice cream parlor of some kind. The tall and burly shopowner flashed a toothy smile.</p><p>“Alola missy!” he greeted me with an odd hand gesture. “What can I do for you?”</p><p>I took a seat at the parlor and checked my things. My Omni-Tool and Pokegear weren't damaged, thank goodness. And it looked like all of my pokeballs were still clipped to my belt. Except there appeared to be another ball on my belt. An Ultra Ball....<br/> I unclipped and tossed the ball behind me. One flash of light later, and A Zoroark looked around, confused as can be. Huh, guess I did catch something with that ball.</p><p>“Oh! I haven't seen that Pokemon before!” the shopowner chuckled heartily, “And I've seen my share in my journeys around the world. Tell ya what? For this pleasant surprise, have a malasada on the house!”</p><p>“I don't, I mean you don't have to-”</p><p>“And done!” Somehow within two seconds, there was now a beautifully crafted waffle cone in front of me full of fudge, chopped nuts, fruit, and some sort of custard at the bottom. </p><p>I blinked several times as my stomach demanded tribute.</p><p>“I-”</p><p>“And here's one for your friend!”</p><p>Within another blink, a second identical masterpiece appeared next to the other.</p><p>“Thank you?”</p><p>The Zoroark sat in the seat next to me and tucked in, smiling ear to ear.</p><p>Well, at least everyone is friendly here. Now to see if I can get some back-up.</p><p>I pulled out my Pokegear and rang up Blue. Terry. Whatever. For some reason, the holo function wasn't working so it defaulted to audio only. That audio started as a blast of wild sound, people screaming, and what sounded like the high pitched whine of an engine.</p><p>“I'm a little busy right now can this wait pl- hiiii Jack.”</p><p>“Real smooth, Blue. Gonna try to sell me a bridge in Castelia City, next?”</p><p>“What? Noooo. Everything's fine.” He painfully lied. Several small bangs followed shortly after, followed by a bloodcurdling scream. I swear I heard him say “classic Greg” under his breath.</p><p>“So what's going on with you?” He tried asking non-chalantly.</p><p>“I'm in Alola, trying to do something important. Can you help me out?”</p><p>“Is it a fate of the world thing?”</p><p>“No, it's to get a certain Pokemon.” I half-lied.</p><p>“Oh. Well. Which island are you on?”</p><p>“Ummm...one with a beach?”</p><p>The sound of a large vacuum kicking on overwhelmed my ears, a few muffled screams followed.<br/>“Jack, you're gonna need to be more specific. Alola's like this world's version of Hawaii, there's a lot of islands.”</p><p>I took a moment to ask the shopkeeper.</p><p>“Akala Island apparently.”</p><p>“Oh that's serendipitous. I'll be there in a few minutes!”</p><p>“What do you m-” Several loud splashes came in from the open window. A few people scrambled to the shore, all wearing generic black uniforms with a red R on the front. Shortly after, I saw the Kodiak shuttle, partially on fire, make an emergency landing on the beach, much to the panic of the beachgoers.</p><p>“I cannot believe you!” I screamed.</p><p>“What? I put the parking brake down.”</p><p>“That's not what I mean! All of this time apart and you going on about not wanting to get involved. Going on a vacation and all that! And you show up with our ship burnt up with well-known terrorists running away from you! You better explain yourself.”</p><p>“Sure thing Jack.” Blue said over my shoulder, causing me to drop my communicator in surprise.</p><p>I took a few deep breaths.</p><p>“At least I have that malasada to take the edge off.”</p><p>“You mean the one this Zoroark just ate?”</p><p>I recalled the Zororark and slapped Blue in the face as hard as I could.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 4: Time For Me To Explain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>At Jack's insistence, Jumper explains what he was up to and how he ended up in the Alola region. The Call to Adventure is shot down several times, mysterious happenings go on in the background, and lingering effects from the last adventure start to creep up on his mind.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alright, where exactly do I begin? The monastery at Sinnoh is probably the best start. Don't wanna risk another slap across the face for the sin of redundancy.</p><p>I didn't lie when I said I wanted to train there. A simple nomadic lifestyle with just me and my Pokemon seemed like a great cleanser after an apocalyptic cosmic war I was constantly on the back foot of.</p><p>Not to mention I desperately wished to utilize the abilities of Aura. No, it's not for the reasons most people I know would want it. Yes, being able to actively talk with my Pokemon is nice. Yes, being able to call forth your fighting spirit for ki blasts and enhanced abilities is great, I should know cuz I got smacked by my master the first time I screamed “Hadoken” when pulling off my first Aura Sphere attack, but it was the other benefits. Aura wasn't just a power-up to me, it was another way to help with emotional literacy and empathy.</p><p>I won't get too much into it but sometimes I have trouble reading people's faces or reading the room. Couldn't tell you how many times I accidentally talked over someone mid-sentence cuz I thought they were done for some headscratching reason. I've gotten better over the years, but sometimes I relapse hard. Now, I have a bit of a buffer. I can see  people's emotional states in clear color-coded fashion if I focus hard enough. The problem was I now needed to interpret a color wheel instead of facial ticks and body language. Eh, baby steps.</p><p>It was a rather refreshing and barebones existence for about a year. Getting up, doing chores, martial arts practice, Pokemon training, food, repeat. I even received calls from my Dad in the middle of all of this telling me how things were going at Silph Co.. It was a bit weird having an active father, in this world doubly so, but it was an understated comfort.</p><p>That changed when I got my visitor. It was in the breakfast hall on a calm Spring morning. Bruce and I were sitting at our table, enjoying our meal together: A bowl of rice, a fried egg, and some sliced radishes, complemented by a cup of berry juice. As we made our way out of the hall and across the courtyard to our living quarters, we were stopped by a ragged but uncannily familiar man in a flowing brown coat and tussled hair.</p><p>“Excuse me, didn't mean to interrupt your journey to enlightenment and all, but spare some time to chat?” He asked with a chipper grin on his face.</p><p>Bruce and I exchanged looks.</p><p>“What do you think?” I asked.</p><p>“He seems friendly enough. And if he does try something, we have the entire academy behind us.” he replied.</p><p>The man's aura was tinged in a bluish green, from what I could tell that meant a mix of relaxation and intrigue. Probably a detective. I shrugged in agreement and walked with him, introducing Bruce and myself.</p><p>“Pleasure to meet you. You can call me Looker, and I'm investigating some strange occurrances happening throughout the regions.”</p><p>Oh beans! The call to adventure! I saw Bruce flash a shade of yellow in my peripheral vision.</p><p>“Well, that's...interesting.” I tried to not rush my pace as we walked through the grounds.</p><p>“Yes. Quite so. You see, ever since the institution in Kalos understood the interdimensional properties of the Link Cable, we've come to understand that various people and Pokemon who have traveled across dimensions carry a unique energy signature.” Looker exposited.</p><p>I kept nodding absently while looking around desperately for a door to use my special key on. All open thresholds and modesty curtains. Drat.</p><p>“Um, hate to interrupt your riveting exposition, Looker, but that doesn't exactly explain what you're doing here exactly.” I replied, bringing my attention back to him, hoping he didn't see me looking around. His expression became more skeptical; he saw.</p><p>“I mean I'm just a young student learning the ways of Aura, after all.” Shut up you idiot!</p><p>“A bit quick to the defense, I see,” Looker smirked, “but I was getting to the why. You see, several of my associates in law enforcement up in the Kalos region were noticing some interesting patterns. It seems that a few readings of individuals carrying the signature unique to those not from our world started popping up at key locations. Shortly thereafter, terrible or unexplained events occurred. People getting attacked, Pokemon going missing, important pieces of technology going missing. So, hoping to catch possible culprits in the act and get some evidence in the process, me and my associates have started going to areas of interest with our own little scanners. The kind that can pick up this signature in the tiny pockets that our global sensors tend to skim over.”</p><p>Looker tossed around a small blocky device, a tiny antenna extending far out of it. The device started beeping rapidly.</p><p>“Oh, wouldja lookatthat?” He chuckled, “Looks like we got a strike, eh? And it looks like it's...huh. Looks like you're setting it off.”</p><p>I couldn't help but laugh awkwardly, still looking around for a simple wooden door to anything. Open thresholds; open thresholds everywhere.</p><p>“Well, funny story about that, Looker,” I stuttered, “I uhhh...you know what? Maybe we can talk in private? I'd be more than willing to answer your questions.”</p><p>“Oh. Well that's quite upfront of ya, lad.” Looker relaxed, “Hear I was expecting a chase or a battle or something. Apparently that happened to my partners elsewhere. Good to know I lucked out.”</p><p>Looker continued to ramble on about his case and these mysterious occurances. Whenever he asked me anything directly, I deflected and shifted the discussion. To his credit he did persist, but overall I kept the conversation as stretched as I could as we made our way towards civilization.</p><p>I couldn't tell what the name of the town was, only that it was a rare little town that seemed to have an auto garage in it. Better yet, it appeared shut down; a bike shop was curiously right next to it doing fantastic business.</p><p>“So what exactly is going on? You from wayy out of town?” Looker joked. I chuckled slightly, but noticed his hand was in his coat pocket, holding on to something.</p><p>“Well, I do need to get something from this garage. Give me a moment?”</p><p>Looker nodded. I made my way to the garage, fishing my key out of my gi. Looker stayed close out of curiosity.</p><p>With a quick motion I slipped the key into the garage door, the key sliding into the metal sheet like butter with a dull glow around its entrance. With some effort I lifted the door open, letting the bright majesty of the Warehouse overwhelm Looker.</p><p>It left him wide open for me to kick him the gut as hard as I could. He went flying into the street in a confused heap. Without missing a beat, I ran towards the Kodiak shuttle and prepped it for launch.</p><p>Before lifting off I activated the speakers on the ship for one last comment.</p><p>“Sorry Looker but I know nothing about what's going on don't look for me okay thank yoooouuu!!!”</p><p>I never saw Looker in Sinnoh again after that miraculous and completely subtle escape.</p><p>Still, it didn't stop me from hopping from place to place. I first stopped by Hoenn, my last digital stomping grounds before retiring from the Pokemon games until the Unova region called me back. This was the region where the infamous Team Magma and Team Aqua battled over gaining control of legendary Pokemon that could either flood the earth or cover it in magma. They were both ecoterrorists with equally ridiculous motivations, but they were stopped by some kid who went on to become the region's champion. Their name? Dunno. Didn't ask, didn't care. All I knew was that the big threat was gone and I could relax.</p><p>That is I thought I could. Apparently there was something about the Gym challenge the Pokemon games never really needed to explain. There is a Pokemon Trainer social network of sorts, which is tied to every single trainer's ID card. Generally speaking, whenever they win a Gym badge or perform some other activity that equals earning a badge – graduating from a training academy, passing some sort of training session, etc. – their overall Trainer status is updated. It's how the various regions go about recruiting and scouting for participants in their Pokemon League challenge. It also gives those Trainers access to various perks and locations, like VIP passes.</p><p>Which is why it hurt like hell when I was turned down from a certain spa, despite me having the cash for it, because I was still classified as a novice trainer with barely two badges from a foreign region under my belt. Despite the training I had at Sinnoh's Aura Academy, apparently they weren't officially recognized by the network, so even that was a dead end.</p><p>I slumped outside the spa, Bruce sat next to me.</p><p>“Well, what in the world do we do now?” he coughed a tiny fireball in exhaustion.</p><p>I shrugged, “I dunno buddy. We can't do anything without upping our cred. But upping our cred paints a target on our backs and I don't...”</p><p>“Don't want to what? Be the best?”</p><p>“No. It's not that it's...” I growled and leapt to my feet. I felt Bruce's clawed hand on my shoulder.</p><p>“I understand...you're scared.”</p><p>I snorted, “Yeah right. Survivor of the Reaper War right here.” I stood up, “I got nothing to fear.”</p><p>I didn't know Blazekins could cock an eyebrow, but Bruce found a way.</p><p>Before I could follow up, I got a call from Dad. Saved by parental obligation.</p><p>“Hey sport, how goes the training in Sinnoh?” His hologram smiled but I could tell he was concerned.</p><p>“Um, great Dad. I'm actually in Hoenn now. Y'know, just...seeing the world. Finding my own way... trying not to turn any heads.” I mumbled.</p><p>“Well, which one is it, son?” he chuckled, “You can't have both at the same time.”</p><p>I opened my mouth several times but sound failed to produce. He laughed.</p><p>“Well I know you've been...taking your time with your gym challenge, and I thought of a way I could help.”</p><p>“Dad, please don't. I don't want to-”</p><p>“Oh I'll hear nothing of it. Just keep this to yourself, alright. Sending them over now. Just promise me you'll keep being better, okay?”</p><p>Three tiny balls of light appeared before me. Some sort of transporation technology Silph Co was working on no doubt. In a blink, the light dispersed, revealing three purple pokeballs with pink circles on their sides and a giant white M in the middle.</p><p>I grabbed the Master Balls as quickly as I could and tucked them out of sight.</p><p>“Dad are you out of your mind!? Only those who qualify for League challenges are allowed to have these! There are ecological regulations for this stuff! Do you have any idea how bad this could get?” I sputtered.</p><p>“I have no idea what you're talking about, son.” Dad smiled before his hologram winked out of existence.</p><p>“Great! Right when I end up in the world of Pokemon I have an active father, and he's a reckless anarchist!”</p><p>I got some weird looks from people entering the spa. I awkwardly laughed before turning back to Bruce.</p><p>“What am I gonna do? Three Master Balls is the kind of thing that makes government officials and higher ups give you weird looks! Plus all that weird interdimensional mumbo jumbo Looker was going on about, he's going to come after me like a Houndoom with a scent!”</p><p>“Yeah, I will.” Looker remarked over my shoulder.</p><p>I'd like to say I didn't scream like a little girl and felt my heart slam against my teeth... but I'd be lying.</p><p>“So, you do know something about what's going on, kid.”</p><p>“How did you find me!?”</p><p>“You just got off a call on your pokegear that you never turned off since the last time we spoke and you just got done screaming like a scared baby in a public space?”</p><p>“Yeah that checks out.”</p><p>“Right, so do me a favor and talk and I can give you your pokemon back.” Looker grinned while twirling my pokeball belt around his wrist.</p><p>“Oh beans,” I flashed a look to Bruce. He knew what I was thinking, but I could tell he wouldn't be happy about it.</p><p>“Bruce, stop him!”</p><p>Bruce fell to the ground beak first, snoring. A Hypnos appeared behind Looker, answering my question.</p><p>“Please Terry, don't make me do this the hard way. There very well may be lives at stake. I need your help.”</p><p>I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. I swear I heard Commander Shepard in his voice.</p><p>“Trust me...you don't want my help.” I spoke through clenched teeth.</p><p>“I'm sorry but you're the only lead I got,” Looker's expression turned sympathetic, “I don't know what's going on but you can't just run away from stuff like this. Let me help you help us.”</p><p>Images of a hospital ward with the Normandy crew flashed through my mind. My body relaxed and my mind cleared, thanks to one phrase I couldn't help but utter out loud.</p><p>“Never again.”</p><p>With a thought, I changed. Where Looker once stared down at an utterly powerless teenager, he now faced a fully grown blue-skinned woman, dressed in black coat with cyan accent lines and dark jeans.</p><p>Looker and his Hypnos did a double-take. That was the opening I needed. With an outreached hand and a force of will, a wave of blue biotic energy picked the two off their feet. They flew over two houses, though my belt remained. Bruce looked confused by my transformation, but he could sense it was still me by my aura.<br/>“I was gonna tell you about this eventually.” I sighed.</p><p>“You still have't explained your Warehouse to me either.” Bruce remarked.</p><p>I grabbed my belt and bounded back to the spa's doors, my Key at the ready. A few frantic moments later and we were in Hoenn's airspace, confused and panicked people and pokemon notwithstanding.</p><p>I just idled up there for a time, staring at the clouds while Bruce stood nearby.</p><p>After a while, I looked down and saw the body I was in when I recklessly condemned an entire galaxy to-</p><p>I changed back to Terry again, my simple novelty t-shirt and jogging pants overwriting my original fashion. Pretty sure I was hyperventilating. I let out the rest of my team so they could stretch their legs.</p><p>I felt Copperfield reach out with his telepathy, “You know it's okay to talk about this. I'm not a doctor but you are showing signs of duress.” I heard Greg cackle at the thought.</p><p>“Hey who wants to go on a field trip!?” I snapped, forcing a smile, “I know just the place! A place where nothing bad has happened recently or will happen again because some kid took care of it a while ago and there'll never be a problem there again.”</p><p>My Greninja, Hoji, clapped in joy. Greg's ghastly Gengar smile widened to a creepy degree. Bruce just tapped his taloned feet on the floor like he was disappointed.</p><p>“You're deflecting.” Copperfield remarked.<br/>“You're deflecting!” I blew a raspberry at him.</p><p>I set a course for the Kanto region and made a beeline for Mount Moon.</p><p>“Yep. Nothing there! Just a bunch of rocks and way too many Zubats. We'll just stay there. We got food and water and a spaceship. It'll be fine!”</p><p>Jump appeared outside the windshield, completely immune to physics and weather, covered in ostentatious Pokemon merch.</p><p>“Hey, just popping in for your midjourney check-up and wow you've been getting around,” She giggled before taking a sip out of a novelty Grimer cup. “Sooo how many badges have you gotten? Catch any mythics or legendaries yet? I bet you're already on your way to catch God or something”</p><p>“Shut up, Jump!” I yelled. “I'm taking a vacation! AND NOBODY'S GONNA STOP ME!”</p><p>“Oh my goodness, you're adorable.” She drained the Grimer cup dry then dropped it, letting it blur past the ship.</p><p>“Why in the world aren't you badgering Jack right now? She's running around too you know?”</p><p>“I dunno, why haven't you been paying attention to the mountain you're about to crash into?”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Buh-bye!” Good bye Jump; hello rock face of Mount Moon.</p><p>I banked as hard as I could away from the mountainside, heading downwards towards its base. Everyone lifted off the ground a few inches as I made the hairpin turn. Except Greg; he just started laughing. Classic Greg.</p><p>What followed next was a barrage of trees and the frightened faces of some birds and trainers. A few agonizing seconds later, the trees gave way to a small lake with a city. If I had to guess by the placement of a certain bridge, it was Cerulean City.</p><p>I skidded across the lake while setting up an emergency landing procedure, hoping the resistance of the water would slow things down further. Copperfield's eyes glowed as he helped anchor us in place with his psychic powers.</p><p>The landing was far from smooth, but we were safe.</p><p>I recalled my team and stepped outside to assess the damage and get them to a Pokemon Center. About halfway through I felt a slight pain in my side. Should probably find a doctor while I'm at it. Through a haze of concerned citizens and screaming individuals about the shuttle crash, I made my way to the Pokemon Center and stayed until it was clear my companions were alright.</p><p>Before I could leave the Center, a face I had only seen in pixels stopped me.</p><p>“Hold it right there. As a Gym Leader of Cerulean City, I must ask you to explain yourself before I report you to the authorities.” A tomboyish girl with flaming orange hair and a modest swimsuit declared, flashing her Cascade Badge like she was an officer.</p><p>“Alright, I understand I'm illegally parked,” I growled, “can I at least get my leg checked out before you throw the book at me?”</p><p>There were concerned whispers from the patrons. Several even scrambled out the door. I get a feeling Misty's temper hasn't waned in however long it's been since Gen 1.</p><p>“Alright mister, if you want to be a smart mouth, I'll just bring you in myself!” Misty bellowed, revealing a ball in each of her hands....</p><p>That is until a wave of psychic energy erupted from outside and struck her in the back. In two seconds, her body was glowing, her eyes glassy, before slumping to the ground, unconscious. I didn't get a good look at who did this, my concern was with Misty, curse my empathy. Panic was fully overtaking the scene. I carried her to the Center's nurse and with a terse, “fix this” turned on my heel and ran outside to meet her attacker.</p><p>I saw them making a beeline for my shuttle. Two figures in black uniforms; two very familiar uniforms. All that was missing were the giant red Rs on their chests. How in the world were they still operating? It didn't matter. I couldn't let a bunch of bumbling idiots get a hold of that piece of tech.</p><p>I sprinted towards the shuttle... only to feel a pop and a surge of pain from my leg. Right, leg injury. Work smarter, not harder, dude come on. I unclipped and released Copperfield.</p><p>“Teleport us back to the cockpit.” Before I could finish my sentence, his eyes glowed a bright blue and my vision blurred as we were pulled through space. In a flash, I was sitting in the cockpit, just in time to hear the grunts ram their way inside. Alright, I'm never gonna have this chance again, better make it count. While the pilot's seat didn't swivel, I tried nonetheless to sound intimidating.</p><p>“Welcome gentlemen. Sadly tours are not happening today due to repairs and renovations. If you'd like to leave your contact information I can send a newsletter to let you know when services will continue.” I tried waving my arm in the air in a dismissive manner.</p><p>Sadly, it seems these grunts had rocks for brains. “Pfff. Get out of that cockpit right now. Boss's orders. I'm not gonna ask nicely again.”</p><p>I scowled and rose from my seat, “Oh for Pete's sake! Your boss is gone, at least the one that matters. He bounced off and realized that Team Rocket was a load of hogwash. You should really follow his example before someone gets hurt.”</p><p>Before I could continue I saw the Rs on their chest. But they weren't red; they were rainbow colored. The grunts flashed toothy grins as two ultra balls fell from each of their hands. In a flash, they were surrounded by an Arbok, Hypno, Primeape, and a Haunter.</p><p>“Okay...that's new.” I blinked.</p><p>“Oh Giovanni might have quit, but our boss is a winner. A conqueror.” Grunt A spoke in revelrous tones.</p><p>“Different coach, same terrible team.” I bluffed, “It doesn't matter, you aren't getting this ship.”</p><p>The Primeape roared forth with a berserker punch, only to be caught in Copperfield's telekinetic field. The Haunter pounced forward, its shadowy claws crackling with dark energy....</p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>“And from there it was kind of a chaotic blur.” I confessed to Jack as we mused over malasadas. “ I made a controlled landing, sensed your aura on the beach, Copperfield teleported us here and...here we are.”</p><p>“Really? No big questions or revelations about who they were working for?” She cocked an eyebrow.</p><p>“What's there to get out of them? They're Team Rocket. And apparently they got a bit more progressive since their leaders vanished. If it looks like a terrorist, talks like a terrorist, and gets way too excited about conquest like a terrorist, then it's gonna get punched in the face like one. End of story.”</p><p>Jack wasn't amused, “So them going after your ship was just some coincidence? How did you end up on Alola then?”</p><p>“If I had to guess, some buttons were hit in the fight.” I shrugged.</p><p>“He turned the ship on, hoping it would give him an advantage in the battle,” Bruce commented.</p><p>“Shush, you know she can't hear you without aura.” I remarked.</p><p>“I can also just read your mind.” Jack retorted.</p><p>“Hey boundaries!”</p><p>“So these guys actually gave you trouble Mister High and Mighty?”</p><p>“Eh, it took a little effort.” I lied. It was pretty intense. It didn't help that the ship was flying around like a giant metal death trap and I only had basic potions and antidotes to use.</p><p>“Blue!” Jack yelled.</p><p>“Alright fine! It was one of the most reckless and frightening things I've done here to date!” I slumped on the stool, exhausted, my face in the counter.</p><p>“Now, can we get everyone some medical treatment? This has been a long day.”</p><p>“Oh yeah, sure... once you promise me that we're heading out to that Aether Foundation island and seeing what's up.” Jack spoke with an icy tone.</p><p>“Yeah no. Prime directive. I'm on vacation, not doing it.”</p><p>Jack grabbed me with her mind and pinned me to the wall.</p><p>“Alright! Fine! Whatever you say!”</p>
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